ewen21

Some very open and blunt criticism is needed. Criticism doesn't reflect frustration, disappointment or anger at this point for me. I just don't give a damn about saying anything that is guarded about certain things anymore. This team cannot draft and raise starting pitching. Period. There is actually no reason to get excited about this ballclub at this point. It has been quite a few years where I experienced the emotions. The article starts right off with Buxton and how great he is....."when healthy". I would argue even when he is healthy he is wildly inconsistent, streaky and really has no situational awareness as a hitter. He has been awful in situations with runners on base and in close and late situations for his entire career. Any year we have been in contention he has been all but AWOL for the most important games and the post season because (for whatever reason) he is incapable of playing a full season. If this is going to be our "face of the franchise" and who people are going to fawn over then we aren't getting anywhere. For some reason, the "face of the franchise" thing is very important here and it didn't used to be. There are a lot of guys who could be slightly better than replacement level on this roster. There isn't any cohesion, nor does there seem to be any team culture. Nevermind the championship teams, that is another lifetime, but simply going back to the early 2000s is a good place to start. There was no "face of the franchise" but there was a group of guys who came up through a system that demanded you post up and play. It was a culture where the player policed themselves. When Mauer arrived that (unfortunately) changed because no one was going to tell him how to play the game. I am not blaming him, but the change occurred as soon as he arrived and started receiving national attention. Players no longer hold themselves accountable in the same way. Baseball is more of a fraternity now where everyone is friends. Even the fans seem to root for players (even on other teams) rather than root for the laundry.

What do we really have to boast as far as pitchers drafted and raised by the Twins? What are we talking about here since Y2K? Perkins (who couldn't start), Garza (gone after a full season), Blackburn, Slowey, Berrios (all three never going deep into games almost ever) and now this little group that is still only a question mark? How is it wrong for a fan who has chatted for well over two decades about this team online to point out all of this and an obvious problem this organization has had. Color me skeptical in the face of articles like this, worded in this way.

So, we shouldn't pump the brakes on this? Is this why you disliked my post, Coach? It's okay if you dislike what I said, but at least be enough of a human to point out where I was wrong and what you disagree with beyond "oh you are just being negative".

Pumping the brakes on this IS giving them a break. They made it to the majors and that is great for them. That is not the bar for the Minnesota Twins and if it is, we must admit Josh Donaldson was right about the culture. For fans of this team we need them to do better soon to be able to say "success" and none of them or too young. Ryan isn't part of this but since I mentioned him he's already 30, Matthews will be 27 next year. Preilipp is 26 next year, so is Morris. What have they done so far to call this is 2022 draft class a "success"? Might they get there? I won't put any money on it, but I hope so

Any analysis of our homegrown pitching for the upcoming season must involve strong consideration based in WHIP and how they pitched when they were truly needed. There were days this season when there were important games in the month of July to give us a reasonable chance to make the postseason (if that even mattered). One cannot discount a game in Chicago just after the all star break when Matthews was just God awful, dispensing hits as if he was conscripted to do so. These games are part of his development arc and he has failed. Then days later in Cleveland Ryan came out and threw gopher ball after gopher ball like you never really see. I have watched baseball games that I can remember since 1972. I don't know if I have ever seen what Ryan did right there and when we were talking about making a run? Are you kidding? You have to post up better than that. These are only two games, but for heaven's sake it was bad and it really was proof for me this team did not have what it takes. There is a mindset that HAS TO be adjusted somehow. You cannot blame just the front office or the guy in the manager's seat. He has been just fine.

This article is about 4 years too soon. There is no way to determine whether 2022 was a successful draft or not. I know we all WANT this to be true but we can't make it true by writing flowery pieces accentuating the positives. In the short term, I see our lineup for next year and I do not think it is going to be better. Middle of the pack is the best we can hope for and the starting pitching for me will ALWAYS be a question mark until I start seeing young pitchers drafted by us, raised by us, pitching at a reasonable high level. It just doesn't even seem possible at this point. If Zebby Matthews and Connor Prielipp are what we bragg on for 2027 then my goodness. And as some already mentioned, this article is pretty timely. We get crushed by the Yankees and then bang zooom....someone has to sell hope. No need for it, actually, although it is kind of charming and cute

Whether you research it on AI or on Fangraphs the result supports the same conclusion: He has not been a good hitter with RISP for his career.

I do know. THe answer is a hard NO. In fact, I would test his desire a couple of weeks before the trade deadline especially if we are sellers next year (and we will be). Baseball is a business. He needs to grow up. It isn't like he's won four rings like Derek Jeter. He as compiled 862 hits over TWELVE seasons. If he wants to play baseball beyond 2028 we ought to be forthright and give him a chance to waive his no trade because his "Twin for life" thing would be cooked.

It's actually .228. https://www.baseball-reference.com/tools/split_stats.cgi?full=1&params=bases|RISP|buxtoby01|bat|AB|

This is very much the case and we are not talking about a small sample size. In 791 at bats he was 257 Ks (about 1/3 of those plate appearances) and a lifetime .228 average. That is our "face of the franchise"🤣

Whether I bring that up in any thread remotely related to Buxton (and I have barely been here the last few seasons). The problem still exists and people are going to talk about it as long as he is here so you get over it Oh I am sooooo over it. I have a question for you. Do you like the idea of signing him after the contract is up (and if he is still around when it does run out)

Did AI produce the answer? Yes, it did. While I share some of the same concerns and dislikes of AI we are talking about a BASEBALL PLAYER'S BATTING AVERAGE. He is 125 for 561 as a DH according to baseball-reference. I hope that is satisfactory

Therein lies the problem. He is treated like he's the prince of a royal family. What do they do, "Gee, Mr. Buxton, sir....can we please move you to LF field, sir?". What is he going to say? Is he going to get mad? Who cares at this point. The Twins have made all kinds of adjustments, accomodations for him and the contract he signed centered on that, Had he been able to show he can play 130-140 games in a season with regularity he'd have gotten a bigger contract. As it is he has played less than half the scheduled games in CF the last five seasons and this will not improve with age. Something must be done and he should have very little say in it at this point. If he balks and acts out the way he did in 2018 when he was not called up in September then the Twins need to grow a pair of balls and tell him he isn't going to be resigned because he in no way should be dictating terms. If he wants to play baseball after 2029 it should be someplace else. This is a player who has 862 hits after 12 seasons of playing for the Twins and yet he gets a "face of the franchise" tag. This team has roughly a .500 record over the last ten years. This idea that we NEED Buxton and that he has to remain a "Twin for life" is just absurd to me. The front office has a team to run. Buxton can be a team player and accept what his future is here or he can drop his no trade and test the market. I have no use for him any longer

Yeah, and he has started precisely 400 games in centerfield over the last five years. That doesn't even averages out to one game less than half of a season each year of those last five years and after hip surgery, at 33 years old this will not start improving next year. It is guaranteed to get even worse, so when you say what you just said, what does it actually have to do with the Minnesota Twins remedy to find a centerfielder to play the games Buxton doesn't play? It has been the same problem year after year. He will 33, coming off hip surgery. At what point do you let go?

You are very wrong about that in the case of me. I cannot speak for others, but I willing to bet those who are against an extension aren't interested in making all sorts of creative accommodations to retain Buxton just so he can fulfill his wish to be a lifetime Twin. I am interested in moving on from the Buxton era. It is nuts to me that a guy who has 862 lifetime hits in 12 seasons winds up to be our "face of the franchise". We need to build a roster with youth and hopefully a reasonable amount of depth. We have had to load manage Buxton with all the complications he presents.